Colorado lawmakers advance gun control bills

ALISON NOON/For The Tribune
Weld County Sheriff John Cooke speaks in the state Senate Judiciary Committee recently on behalf of the County Sheriffs of Colorado against House Bill 1229, which would require universal background checks on gun sales. About 20 sheriffs from around the state, many of which testified at other gun bill hearings, stood with him during his testimony.

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke speaks in the state Senate Judiciary Committee last year on behalf of the County Sheriffs of Colorado against HB 1229, which would require universal background checks on gun sales. About 20 sheriffs from around the state, many of whom testified at other gun bill hearings, stood with him during his testimony.

ALISON NOON/For The Tribune
Dudley Brown, a gun-rights lobbyist and founder of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, talks with allied demonstrators as Rep. Holbert (R-Parker) looks on outside of the state capitol Monday morning. Brown talked with the small crowd of about a dozen about funding pro-gun Republican candidates in 2014.

ALISON NOON/For The Tribune
Rep. Chris Holbert (R-Parker) welcomes gun-rights activists who are demonstrating with posters on Broadway in front of the state capitol in Denver. Horns blared as morning traffic moved past the demonstrators.

ALISON NOON/For The Tribune
Lines circle the second floor of the Colorado state capitol in Denver at 9:30 a.m. Monday. It was an hour before the state Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee were scheduled to hear bills addressing gun control.

DENVER — The Colorado Legislature is considering seven gun-related measures from Democrats Monday. A look at the bills and what they do:

» BACKGROUND CHECKS: House Bill 1229 would add a background-check requirement for many guns sold in private transactions. It passed a Senate committee in a 3-2 party-line vote. The Democratic-sponsored bill has already cleared the House.

» MAGAZINE LIMITS: House Bill 1224 limits gun ammunition magazines to 15 rounds. The Democratic-sponsored bill has cleared the House, and passed Senate Judiciary on a 3-2 party line vote.

» FIREARM BAN FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OFFENDERS: Senate Bill 197 would expand a ban on gun ownership for people convicted of certain domestic-violence offenses. The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line 3-2 vote Monday. One more committee vote awaits before the full Senate considers it.

» BACKGROUND CHECK FEES: House Bill 1228 would revive fees for gun purchasers who need background checks. It passed a Senate committee in a 3-2 party-line vote. The Democratic-sponsored bill has already cleared the House.

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DENVER — The battle over new firearm restrictions intensified in Colorado on Monday as hundreds of gun rights supporters crammed the state Capitol and circled the building with car horns blaring, while inside the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords urged lawmakers to pass universal background checks.

Colorado has become a focus point in the national debate over what new laws, if any, are needed to prevent gun violence in the wake of recent mass shootings, including an attack at a suburban Denver movie theater last summer — a massacre that brought to mind the Columbine High School shooting of 1999 for many in the state and across the nation.

Lawmakers in the politically moderate state are considering a package of gun control measures, including plans that would limit the size of ammunition magazines and expand background checks to include private sales and online purchases.

Retired astronaut and Navy captain Mark Kelly told lawmakers that he and his wife support the Second Amendment, but he said the right to bear arms shouldn’t extend to criminals and the mentally ill.

“When dangerous people get guns, we are all vulnerable,” Kelly said.

Kelly has testified before Congress in support of gun control measures. Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman from Tucson, Ariz., was severely wounded in a mass shooting in January 2011 while meeting with constituents.

Gun control opponents say the proposals will not reduce violence. They say lawmakers should focus on strengthening access to mental health services for people who could be dangerous to communities.

The commotion at the Capitol underscored the attention the debate has generated nationally from gun rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association, to victims’ families and White House officials.

There were so many people at the statehouse that an audio speaker system was set up outside so dozens of gun rights supporters waiting to testify could follow the hearings.

Several bills before state senators already have cleared the House. And because Democrats control both chambers of the state Legislature, the proposals have a strong chance of passing.

The proposal expanding background checks advanced Monday and could come before the full Senate this week. Another measure that picked up initial Senate approval would place new restrictions on gun ownership by people convicted in domestic violence cases.

The state’s Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, supports magazine limits and expanded background checks. He hasn’t indicated where he stands on other measures, including whether he supports a proposal that would hold sellers and owners of assault weapons liable for shootings by such firearms.

The package of bills is expected to keep lawmakers at work late into the night.

During a Senate hearing, Kelly compared the different background check requirements for private and retail sales to having two different lines at the airport, one with security and one without.

“Which one do you think the terrorist is going to choose?” he asked.

Gun rights supporters, meanwhile, arrived wearing stickers that read, “I Vote Pro-Gun.” Several dozen people outside the Capitol waved American flags as light snow fell, and a small plane flew overhead carrying a banner with a message for the governor, “HICK: DO NOT TAKE OUR GUNS!”

One of the nation’s largest producers of ammunition magazines, Colorado-based Magpul, has threatened to leave the state if lawmakers restrict the size of its products. Its founder said smaller magazines can be easily connected to each other and the company fears it would legally liable if people were to do that.

Victims who have lost relatives to gun violence say it’s time for legislators to take action.

“It’s for those who still have children and are going to be attending schools. It’s for those who go to church on Sundays. It’s for those who go to the mall,” said Dave Hoover, the uncle of 18-year-old AJ Boik, one of 12 people killed in the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting.

Senate Republicans have gotten thousands of emails from supporters of the Second Amendment, urging them to vote no on the bills. In one email provided to The Associated Press, one woman wrote to a senator that she worried that lawmakers would be taking freedoms from her children.

“Please don’t take even a tiny aspect of their freedom from them by passing legislation that in the end can’t stop bad people from making bad decisions,” the woman wrote.

Jane Dougherty, whose sister, Mary Sherlach, was a psychologist killed in the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has been lobbying Colorado lawmakers to pass new gun laws. She said she doesn’t understand gun owners who worry the bills are putting a burden on their rights.

When you lose a loved one to gun violence, “your life is never the same,” Dougherty said. “All these lives are changed by a gun in the wrong hands. That’s the burden, and we can’t lose sight of that.”

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Limits on ammunition magazines gets 1st Senate OK

New limits on the size of ammunition magazines got initial approval in the Colorado Senate over objections from Republicans who say the restrictions can be easily bypassed and won’t prevent gun violence.

The proposal would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds, with a limit of eight for shotguns.

Three Democrats supported the bill in a Senate committee Monday and two Republicans voted no. The proposal still needs to be approved by the full Democratic-controlled Senate. But two Democrats have said they would vote no, meaning Republicans need only one more Democrat to defeat the bill.

Supporters of the proposal say it addresses mass shootings. But opponents say people would still have access to magazines of any size in other states.

Magazine manufacturer Magpul says it will leave Colorado if the bill passes.

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More background checks gets initial OK in Colo.

A proposal to expand background checks on all firearm purchases advanced in the Colorado Senate after dozens on both sides of the debate testified, including the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The Democratic-sponsored bill passed on a 3-2 party-line vote in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, told lawmakers that he and his wife support the Second Amendment, but that the right to bear arms shouldn’t extend to criminals and the mentally ill.

The bill would expand background checks to include private and online firearm sales.

Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman from Tucson, Ariz., was severely wounded in a mass shooting in January 2011 while meeting with constituents.

Colorado sheriffs opposed the bill, saying that it’s unenforceable and the first step toward registering firearms.

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Background check fee clears CO Senate committee

A plan to revive fees for gun purchasers who need background checks has passed its first test in the Colorado Senate.

The bill would state that gun purchasers would have to pay a fee, likely $10, to cover the cost of a required background check on gun purchases. The Democratic bill passed a Senate committee on a party-line 3-2 vote Monday. One more committee vote is required before the gun fee bill heads to the full Senate.

The background check fee has already cleared the Democratic House. Supporters say the fees need to be revived to address a state background check backlog. They point out that many states charge similar fees.

Republicans have derided the fees as an unconstitutional infringement on the right to bear arms.

Gun restrictions in domestic violence cases passes

Colorado Democrats advanced an expansion on restrictions on gun ownership for people convicted of domestic violence offense.

The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday with a 3-2 party-line vote with Democrats in favor. Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak says the bill seeks to address what she called the “lethal combination of guns and domestic violence.”

The proposal imposes new restrictions on gun ownership for people who have restraining orders and who have been convicted of a domestic violence offense.

Republican Sen. Steve King says the bill should allow for more judicial discretion.